When expectant parents write a birth plan, it is filled with hope and enthusiasm for a birth that goes according to the plan.

But what happens if that plan has to change due to unforeseen circumstances? This is what happened to one of my past students, Maria.

Maria was able to use her birth plan to transition her whole birth environment, her birth team and her confidence from a home birth to a hospital room and have a natural birth without an epidural, despite having a Pitocin induction. 

Like Maria, a new approach to your birth plan will give you the confidence and piece of mind that no matter what happens in your birth, you will know how to get the support you need.

The Real Purpose of Your Birth Plan

As you write up your birth plan, keep in mind this document is first and foremost for you, not for your birth team. This document is about what you hold as important for your birth experience.

By documenting your ideal birth in the right way, it becomes a tool that will be useful to help you communicate your approach and your needs to your birth team and help them be the best support for you that they can be, thereby taking pressure off of everyone in the room to guess what kind of support you and your birth partner need.

The 4 Components Needed in Every Birth Plan

In order to make this document really work for you and your birth partner, you only need to understand 4 components:

• Your Birth Why
• Your unique support needs
• Your communication style
• Your immediate postpartum & newborn needs

Some of these components take some exploring to understand for yourself and to be able to clarify them to your birth team, but with some study of yourself, you can share the exact support you need with your birth team so there are no questions as to how you can get the support you need.

Why Not Just Use a Birth Plan Template?

Birth plan templates can seem like the easy way to create a birth plan quickly and efficiently. Unfortunately, templated birth plans usually focus on specific procedures and interventionsrather than focusing on the overall approach and belief system you would like to have honored in your birth. You could say these methods "give you a fish" instead of teaching you how to fish yourself.

In most instances, you will be at liberty to discuss interventions with your birth team at the time if they are needed. Instead of including all the details about what you want and don't want to be offered in labor, which might change when the time actually comes, focus on the overall approach and the support you need during labor.

In essence, most birth plans focus on the external factors of birth to the exclusion of the most important thing in the room - you, your birth partner, and your baby!

The Birth Plan Blueprint

The method we teach shifts the entire focus from those external factors back to you and your experience, your reasons for choosing the birth you are planning, and the aspects inborn in you that will help you achieve success and feel proud of your birth. When you start with the core of your birth and work your way out from there, you are "learning how to fish" and this you can apply in the birth room regardless of the circumstances that may surround you when labor starts.

If you would like to dive deeper into this revolutionary new approach to birth plans and the 4 components you need to include, reserve your seat for our FREE class on Saturday November 23rd 9 AM PT / 12 noon ET.

Not everything about your birth can be planned, anticipated or will go how you expect, but you can be prepared to maneuver through any obstacle with the right preparation.

By the end of this class, you will know:

• Whether you need to write a birth plan so you don't waste precious time
• How having the right birth plan will help you communicate your needs to your birth team so they aren't left guessing how to help you
• How most birth plan approaches set unrealistic approaches so you can avoid the most common mistakes
• The 4 components you must include to make a birth plan that works for you without offending your birth team, creating tension in your birth room, or feeling like a failure if your plans have to change.
• Even if, you are pregnant with your first baby and feel clueless about what to expect, you are having a VBAC, or your are expecting your third, fourth or fifth child and you want a the best birth experience yet!
• Plus, get a free copy of the Birth Plan Blueprint step-by-step guide
• And, ask questions during our live Q&A session!

“Feminism isn’t about making women stronger. Women are already strong. It’s about changing the way the world perceives that strength.” – G.D Anderson